


Some Dance to Forget

by Watermei



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cars, Dog Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Drama & Romance, F/M, astrid - centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watermei/pseuds/Watermei
Summary: Astrid is a dancer looking to kickstart her career. Hiccup is a car boy who is one violation away from losing his license. Despite his outward appearance as a mechanic, Astrid knows that Hiccup is a dancer and she's determined to get him to dance. However, she did not mean to fall in love with him. A year in the life of two university students trying to find their place in the world and in each other. Can they bring their worlds together? Or will they crash and burn before even leaving the starting line? They need to learn how to keep themselves out of labeled boxes, and how to keep dancing - even after the fall.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. 5, 6, 7, 8

Astrid heard the dorm room door open but couldn’t move and failed to care about anyone seeing her in this position. “Dude, put your hoo-ha away, nobody wants to see that.” Heather dumped her bookbag on her bed across the tiny room from the buck-naked, spread-eagle Astrid.

“I have been in spandex for the past eight hours. I need to air myself out.” Having lived with Astrid and her immodesty for the past couple of years, Heather just rolled her eyes at her roommate. It had been a common occurrence for Heather to walk in on Astrid stripped of all her layers in the name of letting her body breathe. They had been roommates since they were sophomores, when the student housing association had randomly paired them together after they elected to leave their freshman year roommates. Heather still didn’t understand why Astrid wanted to dorm in the first place, her parents lived only 20 minutes away from campus, but at the same time she was thankful for the least eccentric roommate she could find, and a little bit of nudity was much better than the possible alternatives.

“Listen, I don’t mind you laying there for all the world to see, but I’ve got a couple of classmates coming over to work on a project.” Heather informed her. Astrid peeled herself off of the bed while Heather sank into her computer chair in front of the desk found at the end of her bed and booted up her PC.

“Fine.” She huffed, pulling on some underwear and sweats and languidly braiding her hair. “Let me guess, they’re just a couple of gearheads like you?”

Heather swiveled to look at Astrid with a face set in exasperation. “Not all mechanical engineering majors are gearheads, you know.” She turned back to her computer monitor when Astrid rolled her eyes. “But you’re not wrong.” Heather smirked, “And they’re both kinda cute in their own ways.” 

Astrid gave a short laugh and decided to play along with her roommate. “Oh really? I was thinking about grabbing a bite to eat, but maybe now I’ll stick around.” They may be just a couple of carboys, but if Heather thought they were cute, maybe she should stick around for a bit.

“Awww, I was gunna borrow your computer chair while you weren’t here.” Astrid knew that Heather never really asked for anything, and often found most of her personal items ‘borrowed’ by her roommate while she was away. She truly didn’t mind, seeing that if she wasn’t in class she was in the studio, and only truly came back to the dorm room to sleep.

“Of course,” Astrid started, bending over the edge of the bed to retrieve her laptop and banana from atop her desk. “I was just gunna lay in bed anyways. Your friends can use my chair.” Just then there was a knock on the door and both girls looked up.

Heather ushered her classmates in while Astrid pretended to look busy with her laptop, catching glimpses while trying not be noticed. Two guys walked in, a rather large blonde guy who looked more than a little awkward walking into the girl’s dorm, and a slender brown hair guy who exuded just a tad bit more confidence than his blonde counterpart. Heather offered Astrid’s computer chair to the larger guy and the slender guy perched himself up on Heather’s bed. As they settled in and started pulling things out of bookbags, Heather introduced everyone.

“Guys, this is my roommate: Astrid.” When the guys turned to look at her, Astrid smiled softly and waved, trying not to look too interested. “This is Fishlegs,” Heather gestured meekly to the Blonde guy who enthusiastically waved back. “And this is Hiccup.” Astrid looked at the guy sitting across from her on Heather’s bed. He gave a cute, slightly gapped tooth smile and Astrid was flustered just enough to not know what to say. So she waved her fingers slightly and took a bite of her banana, because her brain just couldn’t process words.

“Hi,” Hiccup greeted her, “Are you in the School of Engineering too?” His eyebrows rose in question, but Astrid found herself focusing on his freckles. Even her brain felt sluggish, she must have overdone it today. When she realized she was just starring strangely at Hiccup she turned her head away, shaking it ‘no’. 

“Ah, no. School of Performing Arts. I’m a dancer.”

“Oh, a dancer.” Hiccup gave a soft chuckle.

“Yeah,” Heather looked up from her monitor. “These are the Honors Student dorms. We get all sorts of majors in this building.”

Astrid turned back to the group when her brain caught up with the conversation. Suddenly taking offense to Hiccup’s laughter. “Yes, I’m a dancer. Probably to girly for you grease monkeys.” She stretched her arms overhead trying to look more smug than put-out.

“Hey!” Heather barked at her roommate.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I know the difference between an arabesque and a jeté.” Hiccup smirked while is eyes seemed to twinkle as if he was asking Astrid, ‘shall I go on?’. Astrid felt her smug façade melting away as Hiccup held up his hands, “And see? Grease-Free.”

“For today at least.” Fishlegs finally felt comfortable enough to join the conversation. “You should have seen him yesterday when he spilled the oil pan he was working with.”

Hiccup’s jaw dropped in exaggerated offense at his classmate. “Not my fault the thing was rusted through, didn’t think it be that easy to yank out.”

“Guys, that’s enough for now.” Heather barked again. “We’ve got shit to do. Let’s focus please.” Astrid noticed both guys had the decency to look a little sheepish as Heather lashed out. Astrid also felt slightly guilty for distracting them, and decided to vacate the room, now that she met at the two guys. She bounced from her bed and grabbed her gym bag before slipping on some sneakers.

Hiccup looked up at her from his laptop and she caught his eyes. Their gaze lingered long enough for Astrid to recognize that Hiccup was looking at her for a reason, a question unspoken but asked all the same. She felt compelled to answer, before he opened his mouth. “I’m just going to the studio, to leave you all alone now, to get on with your project.” She finished meekly and turned around before the heat spread up to her cheeks from Hiccup’s gaze. 

“Back to the studio? Didn’t you just spend the last 8 hours there?” Heather questioned without looking away from her monitor.

“Well, you know what they say, ‘Practice makes perfect,’ right? Later!” 

She took off down the hall as she faintly heard Fishlegs say, “See you later, Astrid.”

Instead of going back to Berk University’s studio, Astrid found herself at Berk Dance Arts, the local studio she grew up in. As an alumnus, Astrid often taught dance to little kids in various styles there. Tonight, she found Ruffnut working on her own Hip-Hop routine. It was late enough that classes were done, and as long as the dancers cleaned up after themselves the owner of the studio often let them use the space for practice after hours. 

Astrid sat stretched out on the floor, still in her sweats, watching Ruff practice the same 8 moves. Astrid and Ruffnut grew up in this studio together, learning the fundamentals of dance at the age of three, but in high school Astrid started to focus mainly on contemporary dances while Ruff focused on Hip Hop with her brother.

“Where is Tuff tonight, anyways?” Astrid slowly curled her back up from her forward stretch and moved her feet around in circles, stretching her ankles. Ruff stopped awkwardly mid-move and sank down into a squat.

“Who knows…” She answered non-committedly.

“I mean, isn’t he supposed to be practicing with you?”

“He said he, ‘didn’t need more practice’ and took off. It’s fine. I’m just trying to figure out why my timing is off at the end.”

“Here, I’ll help.” Astrid got up and joined Ruffnut in the middle of the floor. She had watched the other girl for the last half hour so she had the basic choreography down, and with a little coaching she was able to mostly keep up. “Ok, and, 5, 6, 7, 8…” by the end of the first sequence they were both out of sync. “Ahhhh, alright, again. I think I got this.” After several tries they were both in sync and flowing together almost effortlessly. It was the point of practice that Astrid loved best, the repetition allowing her body to work without much thought, but it also allowed her mind to wander. Eventually, she fell behind by a half step and Ruff immediately saw it in the mirrors.

“Awwwww, Astrid. We had that.” Ruff complained, punching the air.

“Sorry, sorry. We can go again.”

“Nah, you’re way too distracted to think about my choreography.” Ruffnut squat down again and looked up at Astrid, “Spill it.”

“Spill what!?” She nearly shrieked back.

“Yup, definitely something.” Ruff nodded sagely.

Astrid started pacing around the studio. At this moment, Astrid could only think of the routine she was working on with Ruff. Just what was she thinking about anyways? She wasn’t distracted earlier, it must have been… “My roommate, she brought these two guys over earlier…”

“Wait, wait, did you get booted out by your roommate so that she could have a threesome?” Ruff waggled her eyebrows at Astrid, causing her beanie to move up and down.

“What?! No! Nothing like that… I hope.” Astrid sat back down with Ruff, pulling out into a stretch before completing a full split. Ruff matched Astrid’s movements and propped her chin up on her hands as her elbows tapped the floor.

“If you need a place to crash for the night, you just have to ask, ya know.”

“No, really. I doubt it’s anything like that. It’s … this one guy. He said something about jetés and arabesques.”

“So, you think he can dance?”

“I don’t think so, they were a couple of car boys, and he’s probably a mechanic or something.”

“Mechanics can dance too, ya know. It’s not outside the realms of possibility.” Ruff said as if Astrid was dumb for thinking otherwise. Astrid just groaned at Ruff’s dig and fell forward, face in the floor. “Did he look like a dancer?”

Astrid was grateful for the floor hiding her face, unable to control the blush that was slowly rising. “He’s tall and slender, but it’s hard to tell with the jeans and hoodie he had on.”

“Well, obviously, your next step is to get him out of those clothes and see if there’s a dancer’s body underneath.” Ruff laughed uproariously when Astrid snapped her head up, face crimson. “And I’m only sayin’ out loud what you’re already thinkin’. Don’t deny it.”

Was she trying to deny it? Sure he was cute, even Heather had said that before he came over. But it definitely felt like they had some sort of connection. She had practically read his mind! Or was he implanting thoughts into hers? Either way, there was something there, and Astrid knew it. She had never felt this way before, from the moment he smiled at her, her brain had stopped working. And yeah, again, he was kind of cute.

Astrid rolled onto her back before flipping up to her feet with a war cry. Letting out a deep breath, she put on her best no-nonsense face and looked at herself in the mirrors. Ruff followed suit, trying not to snicker, but failing completely. “Let’s take it from the top.”


	2. Learn to Fly

Astrid was curled up in her bed, headphones in, trying to focus on homework and block out the 3 gearheads in her dorm room. The carboys had become regular visitors since they had a large group project due soon. And Astrid usually didn’t mind their presence, but tonight she was tired and they were loud. She lowered her book and gloomily looked out at the group.

Hiccup must have noticed because he turned to her and smiled apologetically before saying something to the group. Astrid took her earbuds out, in case they wanted to apologize; however, she wasn’t expecting the conversation that followed:

“Astrid, are you free this Saturday?” Hiccup asked.

“What?” She asked dumbly, as if she didn’t hear him correctly. Was he asking her out or something? Was she free? Didn’t she have dance practice? She always had dance practice.

Heather interrupted her runaway-train of thought. “We’re going to a car meet on Saturday. The Harris Hill Fall Fest.”

Fishlegs jumped in excited, “Yeah, it’s gunna be a great time. There’s the car show that we’re all participating in, and there will be food and arts & crafts and a midway with rides and carnival games.” Fishlegs looked like a little kid as he recounted all the Fall Fest attractions.

“It’ll be fun. If you’re free, you should come down with us.” Hiccup clarified his earlier question and smiled encouragingly. “The best part is that it’s a drive through the mountains at peak fall foliage. It’s beautiful.”

“Don’t forget the hot apple cider and donuts.” Fish legs chimed in. They were all starring back at her expectantly and she felt obligated to say yes. So she did. Dance practice be damned, she could use a day off anyways. 

The group resumed their project at the same decibel levels as before. Though this time, Astrid didn’t mind the commotion in her dorm room. She felt warm and fuzzy, being included in the group, so it felt quite natural to sit back and enjoy their chatter. At least for a little while.

Saturday rolled around and she found herself helping pack up Heather’s car outside the mechanic’s shop where Hiccup works. Some simple camping chairs and a full cooler were tossed into the trunk of Heather’s sleek, silver sports car. After taking a look around the shop she watched Hiccup as he did some last minute checks under the hood of his black muscle car. This, Astrid thought, looked huge compared to Heather’s car, until Fishlegs rolled up in a shiny classic car that could have been mistaken for a boat.

“It’s funny how you three all have different cars.” Astrid mused out loud, “And I can see how they all fit their driver’s personalities too.” Astrid laughed as she loaded the last of the supplies into the trunk. “It’s like those people who look like their dogs.”

“Speaking of…” Heather looked around the shop, “Where’s Toothless?” Hiccup whistled and a big black lab came walking sleepily around to greet them with a yawn. He trotted over to Hiccup who bent down slightly to give him a few pets.

“Astrid, this is Toothless, Toothless… Astrid.” Hiccup introduced them, but Astrid was more interested in the fact that instead of bending at the waist to pet Toothless, Hiccup did a plié, practically in 2nd position. Astrid had never seen a non-dancer bend like Hiccup just had. She watched as he recovered to straight legs and he looked at her expectantly before her brain caught back up with the situation.

“Hi Toothless.” Astrid squat down and held out her hand to greet the puppy, who bounced over to return the greeting.

“We ready to roll?” Hiccup looked to his classmates who nodded in agreement.

“Astrid, you ride with me.” Heather nodded toward her roommate. “Toothless always has shotgun,” which the dog demonstrated by hopping in the passenger seat of Hiccup’s car.

“Or you could ride with me, if you’d like.” Fishlegs offered, rubbing the top of his car affectionately. 

Astrid declined Fishleg’s offer politely and looked around. The feeling of kindness and acceptance was settling deep in her core, she felt so welcome into this eclectic group of gearheads. Although the anxiety she felt for trying something new, and hanging out with different people, was ever present. She hadn’t felt this welcomed into a new group of people in a long time.

The gang got into their separate cars and caravanned out onto the highway, leaving the city streets of Berk for open highway and rolling hills. The 45 minute drive out of town left plenty of time for Astrid’s mind to wander. And while it circled around everything in her life at the moment, it landed back on Hiccup and that plié he did earlier. Did he do it on purpose? To show her that he could? Or was it more of an old habit that he didn’t think twice about? She herself had performed a plié or penché to pick things up off the floor without thinking about it. And if that was what had happened, did Hiccup have dance so ingrained in his system that he just automatically bent down like a dancer? Soon she found her mind so far gone that she was visualizing Hiccup in tights, flying through the air in a grand jeté.

Astrid frowned, starring into the side mirror to see Hiccup’s car following closely behind. No, maybe he just had a back problem, or was sore from working in the shop, or something. Something other than thinking that he was a dancer too. But why did she desperately want him to be a dancer?

“Are you even listening?” 

Astrid turned to the driver, “Huh?”

Heather turned down the radio, which was blaring some classic rock anthem, “so, after the car show ends, the younger crowd, that’s us, likes to go find a spot to do some burnouts and races and stuff - mostly to show off. I’d say it’s a guy thing, but I love it to. So, I hope you don’t mind if we kidnap you tonight.” 

“Wha? Oh no. I mean. I’m not really in a spot to decline. You guys being my ride back and all.” 

“Good.” Heather glanced at her passenger and smiled. “We’re gunna show you how to fly…”

Astrid laughed. “I already know how to fly, thank you very much. You should do a grand jeté sometime. It’s a flying leap across the stage, when you do full leg splits in mid-air. It’s almost like gravity doesn’t exist for you in that moment. You feel like you’re floating.”

“Yeah but, I’m talking about flying without leaving the ground. With the top down, speeding down the lane, the wind rushing past you and your hair flying wild. You’ll see. After tonight, you might just fall in love with the cars just like we have.”

“I can’t wait.” Astrid could feel the love emanating from Heather for her shiny silver sports car.. Astrid had always just seen cars for what they were, a simple means of transport. Astrid never had a reason to buy a car. Public transport worked well enough in Berk, and if she needed she borrowed her parent’s car on rare occasions, or have Heather drive her if needed. 

There was also a palpable feeling a pure freedom. A sense that they could go whenever, wherever, and there were no responsibilities stopping them. Of course, Astrid should be in the studio tonight. No, she wasn’t teaching today. But there were at least 3 routines she should be practicing for various classes. She rolled down her window all the way and shoved her fist out into the cool but comfortable fall air. She opened up her hand to try and catch it, but the wind slipped between her fingers.

Astrid closed her eyes and focused on the force of the wind on the palm of her hand. She only slightly noticed that the car radio had been turned up again. Yet another classic rock anthem blasted along over the top of the howling air rushing into the car. Heather, too, was howling along, fingers drumming the steering wheel. Any last feelings of guilt for skipping out on dance practice blew away, down the side of the mountain they were driving up into.

Inside the tiny town of Harris Hill, Astrid found herself walking down the line of show cars, old and new alike, as they lined Main Street. Beside her, ever chatting away, was Fishlegs. He was like a fountain of knowledge. With each new car they stopped at he would tell her all about the make and model, the year, and some of the finer points of interest. Sometimes, he would even chat with the car owners. Currently, he was chatting with an older gentleman about a 500 engine and timing belts, or something. Astrid was just trying to enjoy the atmosphere and tended to people watch in-between cars, so as not to interrupt her companion. 

The two had ventured out without the others. Hiccup had decided to stay back with their cars and Heather opted to join him. So after setting up a small camp behind the cars, she found herself strolling along the car show with Fishlegs, making their way down to the Midway. Heather had given them the ever important mission of bringing back some festival food. But as much as she was here for the festival, she had kinda hoped to be hanging out with Hiccup.

Fishlegs finished up his technical conversation and rejoined Astrid. “Hey Fishlegs, what food should we bring back for Hiccup? I know Heather probably wants some fried dough…. But I don’t know anything about Hiccup.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know actually.” He shrugged before sticking his head under the hood of a big purple muscle car. “ohhhhh! Astrid look! It’s a Supercharged V8!” Astrid smiled as she watched Fishlegs shake with excitement, before frowning at the answer supplied to her question.

“I thought you guys were friends, you don’t have any idea?”

“Well, we’ve only just met at the beginning of the semester, we don’t really hang out outside of class or working on cars. He just moved here from Capital City. I think he had a tough time at his old school, or something. He doesn’t really like to talk about it.”

“That’s crazy. The way you guys act, I had thought you were old friends.”

“We really do have a lot in common. And, it turns out I’ve been going to his Uncle’s garage for years now, whenever my baby needs something. Oh! Look at this ’72 Camaro!” Fishlegs jogged excitedly up the lane to another muscle car. Astrid tried to push the questions out of her mind as she followed Fishlegs through the rest of the festival. 

After grabbing an assortment of festival foods, the two made their way back to where Heather and Hiccup were camped out behind their cars. And camped they were. The two friends left behind were sitting side-by-side in their camping chairs, a blanket draped across their laps, Toothless at Hiccup’s feet, happily gnawing on some rawhide. Astrid felt a pang of something in her stomach when she saw the two together, but pushed it aside. It was a slightly chilly fall day, and without the running around that her and Fishlegs just did, of course they’d be a bit cold. She felt a bit silly for even thinking anything of it. But as soon as Heather threw her head back in laughter at something Hiccup had said, she felt it again, and it was harder to squash this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this isn't too boring of a story. I swear the good bits are coming! Thanks for reading. :)


	3. Puff of Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up kiddos!

The harvest moon hung big and orange and low in the sky as the caravan of show cars and friends trekked into unlit country roads. Heather was leading the way with Astrid riding shotgun. She was half listening when Heather mentioned that they needed to be outside town, because what they were about to do was only slightly illegal. This made the Straight A, Goody Goody, Never-Done-A-Wrong-Thing-In-Her-Life Astrid only slightly nervous. But it was easy to wash that feeling away when she saw how determined and excited Heather was beside her.

Eventually they pulled over into a field, only slightly off the side of the road. There were already a good 15 cars there, off to the sides, their headlights shining out into the road. Astrid couldn’t decide if she felt like this was an alien abduction or the set of a horror film, so she settled on both, which only made her nervous again. It didn’t help that the groups of people standing around were casting shadows in odd disjointed angles in the multi-directional headlights. Almost all the cars there were newer, fancy sports cars like Heather’s. 

As she got out of the car she saw Hiccup and Fishlegs pull up and park next to them. Heather waved the guys over and they all gathered with a small group that was hovering around a car in the center of the road. Toothless followed everyone and obediently sat at Hiccup’s feet. Heather made some hasty introductions and then was consumed in a loud car conversion, of which, Astrid could only understand every third word.

She turned to Hiccup, who was mostly concerned with the tail end of the car that the others were ogling. “Not that it’s any of my business, but why isn’t Toothless on a leash? You aren’t worried he’ll run off and get hurt or something?” She had squat down to give the dog a scratch behind the ears. Toothless leaned in and wagged his tail appreciatively. 

Hiccup just smiled at her and said, “He’s well trained.” Suddenly the car’s engine, which had been happily idling for the entire exchange, had revved loud enough to startle Astrid. And having almost fallen over in surprise, she jumped up from her squat and shuffled behind the others.

The gang backed out of the road with the other onlookers, a lot of them returning to their own idling cars. People started shouting, some whooping and hollering, as engines all around started to rev up. The car they backed away from got impossibly louder as great plumes of white smoke billowed out from the back wheels. The tires started squealing as it finally took off down the road. Astrid couldn’t see anything and tried to disperse the smoke from in front of her face with a wave of her hand. It cleared just in time to see the car fishtail side to side as it came to a stop, seemingly out of control, like a perfectly executed shuffle step.

Hands came down on her shoulders and someone was using her as leverage to jump higher. “Yes! Franky! Now that’s how you do it!” Heather shouted into the night. More cars started to line up now and perform similar feats of horsepower, racing down the lane in white clouds of burning rubber. 

“You know that guy?” Astrid yelled to Heather over the roar of twenty engines. 

“I know all these guys, they’re my people.” She replied while heading off to her own car. “Toothless!” she shouted, Hiccup turned to see his faithful companion hop into Heather’s car as she opened the door.

“Oh I see how it is! The great betrayal! What happened to Man’s Best Friend?” He shook his head unbelievingly at Toothless, who barked a reply from Heather’s passenger seat. Heather smirked at Hiccup and shouted, “There’s a lot, a mile up, people are lining up for donuts… Show her how it’s done, Hiccup.” And with that she slipped in and peeled out and down the stretch with a squeak and a puff of smoke.

Astrid watched Fishlegs get in his car and gently pull away while Hiccup moved to open his passenger side door. “After you, milady.” He gestured into the car with an exaggerated bow.

“Why thank you.” Astrid gave a short curtsy to return his joke. Smiling she slid into the car and fastened her seatbelt. The leather seats were cold and sent a chill up her spine. Hiccup walked around the back of the car before getting in himself. Gripping the wooden trimmed steering wheel, he turned the key in the ignition. He gave it some gas and Astrid could feel the power of the engine in her chest. She looked around for something to hold onto, and in finding nothing, gripped the edges of her seat.

“I believe someone had stolen my dog. Let’s go get him back.” He laughed as the tires whistled and they started to race down the road, leaving dust in their wake.

Astrid laughed as they leveled out. “Toothless left of his own free will. I wouldn’t call that stolen.”

“Puppy-napped then. Your roommate kidnapped my poor puppy.”

“My roommate? I thought she was your friend?! And didn’t I tell you he should be on a leash?” she was laughing so hard at the back and forth banter that her cheeks started to hurt.

“Oh! Oh!” Hiccup hit the steering wheel in mock excitement. “The old ‘I told you so’… huh, Toothless is very loyal. She probably lured him in with treats or something.”

This exchange ended when the pair were next in line at the edge of the lot. Heather had pulled to the side to watch and cheer them on, Fishlegs next to her, headlights still blaring into the night. Astrid half-watched Hiccup switch gears before taking off into the empty lot, the force pushing her into her seat. Suddenly the pressure pushed her to the side and she quickly braced herself as the car drifted around the turn. With wheels squealing and plumes of white smoke surrounding them she shrieked in laughter, louder than the car, her heart pounding in her chest. This was a pirouette on steroids. A car shouldn’t be able to move this gracefully. She glanced at Hiccup, his face was set in a smirk, eyes dancing with determination. She understood this feeling of freedom and power now, it was exhilarating.

After about three turns Astrid heard car horns blaring, “what’s that?” she shouted. Astrid exhaled when the car came to a full and sudden stop.  
“Shit.” Hiccup hit the steering wheel with the palms of his hands as Fishlegs pulled up next to them. 

“Cops are coming, they’re down the road.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder and gave Hiccup a look of worry. Heather didn’t stop to chat and took off up the road in front of them.

“Try to follow her, if needed, split up and meet back at the garage.” Hiccup pointed ahead for emphasis.

Astrid’s heart was racing ten times faster than earlier as they left in a hurry.

The drive away from the meetup was tense.

It was like the seconds backstage, before the beginning of a performance, but with no way to dissolve the anxiety. Hiccup kept glancing back in the rearview mirror, probably checking for the red and blue lights of a police car. Astrid felt like her heart would stop if she saw them, didn’t want to think about what would happen if they actually got pulled over. They continued in silence for some time, and Astrid felt like they were lost in the twisting, dark country roads. However, Hiccup showed no signs of being lost, even with no sight of the others ahead of them.

“Do you mind if I turn the radio on?” she asked as quietly as she could muster, but it was still enough to make Hiccup jump.

“Oh, sure, sorry.” He reached for the dial, his eyes still on the road, as Astrid went to turn it up, fingers almost touching she pulled back and clasped her hands in her lap. “Sorry, I got it.” The radio picked up a station, and Hiccup’s hands returned to the top of the steering wheel. Classic rock filled the silence of the car’s interior and Astrid tried to stop herself from snorting in derision. Taste in music, another thing that Heather and Hiccup had in common, she thought mournfully. “Oh, you probably like something more pop-y.” He started to move towards the radio again but Astrid stopped him.

“No, this is fine. I listen to all sorts of music. My dad loves classic rock, so I grew up listening to this. It’s kind of comforting, actually.” She noticed that she was rambling, but it felt better to be talking again, compared to the uncomfortably tense silence of before. “I think we’re in the clear now,” Astrid turned to look out the back window, but she was just trying to keep the conversation going and maybe give him a little reassurance. 

“I think so too, but I’m also a little worried about Toothless.”

Astrid smiled at the thought of Hiccup’s companion. “I’m sure he’s fine with Heather. I trust her, and Toothless is a good dog.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just, a little tough being away from him right now. We’re pretty inseparable. The only place he doesn’t go with me is to school.”

“Attached at the hip, that’s adorable.”

“Hey, we are not adorable. We’re a badass team, a dynamic duo.”

“A boy and his puppy.” Astrid finished jokingly, as she watched Hiccup visibly wilt in the driver’s seat. “No, really, it’s super cute. I can see how much he means to you.”

The dark mood that had been suffocating them for the last half hour was finally lifted, and the silence between them felt more like a comfortable blanket than an ice bath. At some point, they had caught up with their friends, who had pulled over and allowed Hiccup to pass and lead them back home.

Astrid turned to watch the dark line of trees along the side of the highway and let the music from the radio wash over her mind. A soft classical guitar started up a familiar tune; it was a song she had listened to growing up. It was often on her dad’s car radio as they drove to dance competitions across the nation.

Her dancer’s mind started to choreograph to the music automatically. Dancers moved across the stage of her mind, jumping and falling in time with the music on the radio. She matched movements to the lyrics; speeding up in the chorus and slowing down as it moved into the second verse.

_Her mind is Tiffany-twisted,_

Here a beautiful place for pirouettes.

_she got the Mercedes bends_

Maybe a backbend into a slow handstand

_She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends_

Her mind slipped back to Hiccup and she hazarded a glance across the car. Oh.

_How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat_

She imagined dancing with Hiccup, his hands twirling her around. Oh no.

_Some dance to remember, some dance to forget_

“So which is it that you dance for?” Hiccup turned to look at her, expression dead serious, “to remember? Or forget?” and she realized she had been staring at him for a good amount of time now.

Only slightly flustered, she started with a hum, to try and buy her some time. “Well,” she started again. What did she dance for? “To remember I guess, to remember who I am.”

They were driving through Berk as the song ended. She remembered why she was here. She wanted to talk about dance with Hiccup again, and she saw he was still tense and nervous about what went down tonight, she thought that maybe she could lighten the mood again. Just the thought of trying to think about how to broach the subject however, had made her hold her tongue. This, of course, made her mad. Because Astrid Hofferson was not afraid of anything. She prided herself on being straight forward and honest. Why was this so difficult?

She nodded in determination and turned to face Hiccup. “When we first met, you mentioned you knew some stuff about dance, are you a dancer too?” She held her breath without thinking, waiting for an answer, and immediately regretted everything when the car came to a halting stop.

She watched his hands tighten their grip on the wheel as he breathed out a “no…”

The lights reflecting in the mirrors indicated that Heather and Fishlegs had stopped behind them, and looking out she realized they were back at the mechanic’s shop they left from. In between themselves and the garage door was a large black SUV with BERK POLICE shining back. A hulking figure stood squinting into the headlights at them, arms crossed in silent scorn.


	4. Battement tendu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for delay, I fell face first into another fandom, but this story is 80% written and I don't want to give up on it! This is shorter than I'd like, but there is more to come shortly. Thanks and enjoy!

This was shaping up to be the strangest day of her life. Being back in the city of Berk, with ambient street lights and not just headlights casting strange shadows was welcoming, but that didn’t make this scene any less strange to Astrid.

The imposing figure of the police officer was still. She didn’t realize she was holding her breathe until Hiccup sighed heavily next to her and started to open the car door. As Hiccup got out of the car Astrid almost had a heart attack, her mind racing, weren’t you supposed to stay in the vehicle and have the cop come to you? She jumped as the car door shut with the force of an explosion in her mind. Her gaze jumped back to the officer. His arms unfurled and he brushed a hand over his long, bushy red beard, before turning slightly toward Hiccup.

Something compelled her to follow Hiccup out of the car; she didn’t like being caught up in the matter, but something deep within her was telling her she needed to be there for backup. She stepped out of the car, pushing the car door shut as quietly as possible, when she heard the beginnings of a conversation.

“I knew t’was you.” A rough, gravelly voice in that same Old Berkian accent of her parents floated across the street.

“And what if it wasn’t?” Questioned Hiccup, defiantly, gesturing in the air vaguely.

“As soon as I got the call, that some kids were tearin’ up Old Ferguson’s Farm, I came here to wait for you to show up. What were you thinkin’ Hiccup? Illegal street racing, were you trying to finish the job?”

“It wasn’t like that! We weren’t racing!” Hiccup threw up his hands in exasperation.

“Sure, ya weren’t. You know this isn’t the Mainland, you can’t pull these stunts here on Berk.” The officer rolled his eyes, both accent and accusation thick like molasses. “I have half a mind to take your license away this time, before someone else gets hurt.”

“You wouldn’t. It’s all I have left!” Hiccup pulled his hair in frustration. ““No one was going to get hurt. Again, we weren’t racing.”

Astrid found the whole situation getting stranger by the second. Fishlegs and Heather now getting out of their cars, Astrid turned to see Heather running up to her, Toothless bounding up to place himself between Hiccup and the cop, giving off a warning growl. The other girl grabbed her hand and held tight, practically melding herself against Astrid’s side.

“What do you want me to say Dad?” Hiccup’s voice rose, his shoulders shaking. “Because you won’t believe me either way.” 

“Chief!” Heather yelled, tugging on Astrid’s hand, almost hiding behind her. “We weren’t racing. We were just up at Harris Hill for the Fall Fest.”

“I know your kind, Oswaldson, Tell me why I shouldn’t bring all you in right now?”

“It wasn’t them, Ok Dad? It was all my doing. That’s what you want to hear right? I wanted to do some burnouts after the car show. Astrid’s never been before, and I was just trying to show off. I swear, we weren’t racing.” When he talked, he talked with his whole body, as if his words weren’t enough. “How about we go inside and talk, let them go home. Especially Astrid, she doesn’t even drive! Let them go, and we’ll talk.”

Silence hung thick in the air until a mechanical noise coming from the shop made everyone jump. The garage door slowly opening with a constant clacking sound spilled light out into the street like a sinister sunrise. When the door was halfway up, and older man walked unsteadily out into the night. “Now what’s all this about, Stoick? It’s 3 in the mornin’, and some people are tryin’ ta sleep.”

Hiccup ignored the interloper and turned back to his father, Berk’s Chief of Police. “Let them go home to sleep.” He gestured back to his friends. “We can talk inside.” Astrid was surprised at the ultimatum in Hiccup’s voice. After spending most of the night running from the police, she was sure that they all just wanted to runaway right now, but Hiccup had seemingly given himself up in exchange. 

“Tha sounds like a grand idea, Stoick. Come on up, I’ll put the kettle on. Since nobody is going to sleep tonight anyways.” The interloper, who Astrid assumed to be the mechanic shop owner, turned to go back inside, confident in the idea that the father/son duo would follow after to him.

The officer turned his death glare from Hiccup to the girls. “You three go straight home.” Three? Astrid turned around to see Fishlegs attempting to hide his large frame behind them. Without so much as a glance behind him, Hiccup walked into the garage, Toothless silently trotting along at his side. They each got into their cars, Astrid slipping into Heather’s car silently. It wasn’t until they were driving away that she saw the officer, Hiccup’s father, go into the garage from the side view mirror. 

The two cars had merged onto the inner-city highway, but after a bit, Fishlegs had turned off the highway, on his way home, and the girls had continued on their way back to campus. The drive was eerily silent and Astrid was tempted to turn the radio back on, until Heather turned to her, eyes glistening and shoulders hunched towards the steering wheel.

The girl’s eyes met for mere seconds before Heather turned back to the road, but Astrid felt everything in them. Heather took a slow, shuddering breath, which seemed to grant her the power of speech again. “It’s all my fault, he didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to take the blame.” Astrid didn’t think it was possible, but Heather managed to grip the steering wheel even tighter.

“Heather, you can’t blame yourself-“

“Yes, yes I can!” She cut her off. “Hiccup didn’t want to go to the meet up after the festival. Those were my friends from back on Berserker Island. They came up because I asked them to, I wanted to show him off…” Heather trailed off, and surprisingly kept her tears in check, even though Astrid could hear them in her voice. Her own throat burned just thinking about the emotions her roommate was going through. The police Chief seemed to know Heather and ‘her kind’, Astrid could only assume it was due to illegal car races. She must have had run-ins with the police before. But what did she mean by showing off Hiccup?

And there it was: that painful twinge of jealousy that shouldn’t be there. Astrid swallowed it back down, here was neither the time nor the place for it. This whole day had been a roller coaster that had went off the tracks. Her normal day to day life was so rigidly scheduled that the sheer amount of extraneous activity had left her both stressed out and numb with exhaustion. She would just have to deal with all of this later, for now all she wanted to do was fall asleep.

“Fishlegs seemed super quiet tonight after all… that...” Astrid trailed off, not quite sure what ‘that’ was herself. “Maybe you should check up on him, make sure he got home safe.”

Astrid watched as a fresh wave of guilt and grief washed over Heather. She brushed her hair out of her face before gripping the wheel again. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have dragged him into this either. I’ll call him when we get back to the dorms.”

Later that night, back in their dorm room, Astrid regretted that comment about checking up on Fishlegs when Heather spent the rest of what was left of the night chatting on the phone with him. Eventually though, the sheer exhaustion had allowed Astrid to fall asleep with thoughts of dancing to every emotion she felt in the past 24 hours with Heather’s soft murmurs as the rhythm.


	5. Crushing It

There were several different coffee shops on campus, and Astrid frequented each one depending on where her schedule led her that day. Today, she was at Flannery’s, which was something akin to imitating an Old Berk Pub while still trying to be a hipster coffee shop. It was in-between the lecture halls, where she just finished up a world history class, and the bus stop which would take her back to Berk Dance Arts to meet up with Ruff and Tuff for practice. After retrieving her to-go cup, Astrid turned on her toes to head out and catch the bus, and just so happened to catch a glance of a familiar figure hunched over a laptop. 

The last time she saw Hiccup he was walking away into the garage in the dead of night, which was just over a week ago. Now, he was sitting at a table next to the fake fireplace, typing furiously, his porcelain cappuccino cup long forgotten. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. Still 20 minutes before the next bus came, might as well say hello, she thought.

He still hadn’t noticed her by the time she reached his table. And this close, she was able to notice the bags under his eyes, and with a persistent frown it made him look like he hadn’t slept all week. “Looks like your coffee is cold, there.” She said to get his attention. The proximity of her voice made him look up.

“Oh, Uh, Astrid! Uh, Hi!” His eyebrows shot up when he recognized her, and he closed his laptop.

“Is this seat taken?” She smiled and nodded to the bench across from Hiccup.

“No, not all.” He stood up slightly to remove some papers that were spread out all over the table, to make room for his unexpected guest. Astrid sat down and started to twist her scarf off. He sat back down and looked at her rather forlornly. “Astrid, I want to apologize for last week.” The sincerity and guilt in his eyes as he apologized made her chest tighten. “I’m sorry you got dragged into that mess, really, had I known what was going to happen I wouldn’t have brought you out there.”

“Oh don’t be sorry. I had a fantastic time.” Astrid smiled, hoping to assuage his guilt. “It was such an adrenaline rush, I felt alive. I can see why you like your fast cars.” Hiccups shoulders dropped and he looked up at her. “Honestly, it was the first time I actually felt like I’m a 20 year old college student. My schedule has always been so rigid, based on schoolwork and dance that doing something so spontaneous like that was freeing.” She took a sip of her coffee, waiting for a response from Hiccup but none came, so she continued to talk about herself. “I’m pretty competitive, and in my pursuit of perfection sometimes I forget to live a little. So, thank you.”

A few seconds passed by, this felt like an eternity to the pair. “So, uh, what brings you here?” He asked to mask the awkwardness. 

“Well, we do go to the same university, you know.” She started, and she immediately saw his face brighten up at her sarcasm. “I just got out of class and decided to pick up a coffee on my way to the dance studio.” She watched Hiccup’s face and noticed that he was doing some mental mapping.

“But, the School of Performing Arts in on the other side of campus?” He asked the question that Astrid knew was coming.

“Right, I’m not going to the school studio tho, I’m going to Berk Dance Arts, the studio I grew up in.” She took a sip of her coffee in celebration of correctly guessing his dilemma. “I’m working on a routine, a few routines actually, for an audition for a dance company a few towns over. They’re holding open auditions in a few weeks and I’m feeling super unprepared. On top of that, the end of the semester is quickly coming up. So there are year-end performances and exams and stuff to practice.”

“That sounds like a whole lot to keep up with,” Hiccup looked down at the table, seemingly lost in thought. 

“It is, but I’m used to it. You looked like you were neck deep in homework there yourself.” She gestured to the laptop.”

“Ehhh, not really. Just some easy Gen-Ed stuff I need to get out of the way, just killing time between classes right now.” Astrid watched his gaze drop down to the laptop, as if he was trying to avoid looking at her.

“Mind if I ask you something?” Astrid asked, slightly leaning over the table trying to catch his gaze. 

“Sure,” he shrugged, his eyes moving up to meet hers.

“When we first met, you said something about knowing a thing or two about dance.” Astrid noticed the slight pinch of his lips, but couldn’t tell if he was truly uncomfortable with the conversation. But this topic had been gnawing at her ever since that night in her dorm room. Everytime she thought of him it was accompanied with images of arabesques and jetés. “How do you know about dance? You took classes as a kid or something?”

“Actually, I’m a backup dancer for the Archipelago’s biggest pop stars.” His deadpan delivery had made Astrid stop mid-sip. He had to be joking, but she didn’t want to accuse him of joking if it was true, then she would look like an idiot. So she sat there, staring rather ridiculously at the guy across from her. After a few blinks Hiccup couldn’t contain himself anymore and starting laughing at his own joke. “No I’m not.” He held his hands up defensively. “Sorry, that was a bad joke…” He trailed off sheepishly, fingers moving to scratch the back of his head.

Astrid remembered to breath, “I was gunna say, that’s a pretty crazy achievement for college student.”

Hiccup’s smiled faded and he looked down at the tabletop again. “I really only know about ballet, because my mother is the principal dancer of Capital City Ballet Company.”

Astrid’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline in surprise. “No way!” Hiccup gave an evasive shrug. “No wonder. You probably know your way around a barre too, huh? Spent your entire life backstage?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He ran his hand through his hair, obviously starting to get slightly uncomfortably with the conversation.

“Wow, Principal Dancer! and Ballet too! Your mother must be really something!” Astrid’s enthusiasm washed over the table and Hiccup brightened up slightly. “Ballet is all about poise and perfection. Personally, I needed something a little more raw and real, so I haven’t done ballet since I was like twelve. I didn’t feel like I’d be perfect at it, so I decided to focus on contemporary.” 

“Well, now that you know a little more about me, mind if I ask you something in return?” He sat back, shoulders raised in defense.

“Of course, what do you want to know?”

“Who are you? Outside of the world of dance?” Hiccup’s hands danced in the air in a vague gesture. 

Astrid’s eyebrows lowered and her nose bunched up in a sort of angry confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just that. The way you introduce yourself, and keep introducing yourself is: ‘Hi, I’m Astrid and I’m a dancer.’” He imitated her without a note of condescension, but it still made her irritated.

“Well, that’s just who I am. How else would I introduce myself?” She could feel her face heat up and her adrenaline kick into fight mode. “How would you introduce yourself?” As she started to lean across the table accusingly, Hiccup started to lean back.

“Hi, I’m Hiccup.” He held out a hand across the table. “I'm an unassuming university student, car enthusiast, mechanical genius, and animal lover with family issues. I think that sums me up pretty nicely.”

She took his hand a bit aggressively and shook, “Hi, I’m Astrid. I’m also a university student. I enjoy throwing hatchets and drinking coffee. I only wear fuzzy socks and I hate cooking. But most importantly, I’m a competitive dancer.”

Hiccup smiled as their handshake broke down. He leaned forward, elbows on the tabletop. “Throwing hatchets, huh?”

Astrid smiled back, and started to stand up to leave as she began to speak. “That’s a second date kind of story. I look forward to hearing more about the unassuming mechanical genius. See you later Hiccup.” And without so much as a wave, she left the coffee shop to catch her bus to dance practice.

“Aaaaauuuuuuuugggghhhhh. Astrid stop already.” Ruffnut whined, rolling around on the studio floor like a child throwing a tantrum. Astrid had spent much of the practice talking to Ruffnut through the mirrors about her entire encounter with Hiccup. “I get it. You’re hopelessly in love with this random guy, but can we talk about something else?” Ruffnut landed face down in the floor, arms and legs stretched out and unmoving. “Like how Tuff never shows up for practice.”

“What?!” Astrid flopped to the floor beside Ruffnut, out of breath. “I am not in love.”

“Infatuated then. You just haven’t stopped talking about this Hiccup guy all day. You’ve got it bad gurl.” She rocked from side to side in an attempt to move, but failed to rollover.

“No it’s just, something new, and exciting.”

“Like a crush.” Ruffnut barked out, balling her fist up forcefully, imitating crushing something.

“Ok then,” Astrid huffed, sitting up into a stretch, “let’s change the subject. Why is Tuffnut missing from practice? You two are supposed to be a team, right? Can’t be a one woman dance crew, you know.”

“Nevermind. I don’t want to talk about that either. Let’s change the subject again. I got this really nice brush burn on my elbow from doing floor work earlier, it kinda looks like a duck, wanna see it?”

“Only if you want to see my bruised knees.” Astrid replied. The rest of the night was spent comparing dance battle scars, both girls relieved with where the conversation landed.


	6. Now Hold It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to share this chapter, the latter half was one of the first things I wrote while outlining this story, and I'm so glad I got it complete on time. Please enjoy, and have a Happy New Year!

Astrid stepped out of the Berk University dance studio and into the winter air, cold but refreshing. Every muscle in her body was sore after group practice today. But then again, Astrid couldn't remember the last time she was not sore. Today's work was exhausting and the teachers were out for blood, but with end of semester showcases just a couple of weeks away, everyone was cracking down. She rolled her shoulders, she had landed pretty hard earlier, and she could still feel the impact. Ms. Greene had told her off pretty badly for that mishap, but Astrid was more annoyed with herself than the lecture. She learned after years of dance lessons that you shouldn't get annoyed when the teacher tells you off for doing something wrong. It means they were watching you dance, and they know you can do better.

All-in-all, today was a good day. Everyone was in sync, knew their places, and her favorite steps weren't cut from the routine. She was looking forward to final showcases and wrapping up the semester. She was also looking forward to taking a nap right now, more than anything. 

After a brisk walk across campus, she unlocked the door to her dorm room and saw Heather working on her computer. She was listening to some punk music, loud enough to drown out most distractions, but quiet enough not to have the RA come banging down the door. Heather turned around when she heard Astrid walk in; she placed her fingers to her lips and shushed her.

Astrid’s face pinched questioningly, why was she being shushed? Heather pointed to her bed in front of her computer. There was a person there, asleep under a blue fleece blanket; the only piece uncovered was a mop of dark brown hair. “Hiccup?” She whispered to Heather, who shushed her harder this time.

“He’s exhausted, let him sleep. Talk later.” It was such an unexpected punch to the gut, and she been having such a good day too. She felt a bit of unease as she quietly stashed her book bag and dance bag away. She lifted herself up into her bed and sat on the edge, silently watching the rise and fall of the sleeping guy’s torso. She had so many questions, for both him and Heather. Her roommate had never mentioned that the two were dating. Maybe they weren’t, maybe this was just a casual, hook up? Somehow that hurt more. She tried to calm herself down, maybe she was overthinking this. Maybe Hiccup was just taking a nap between classes or something… in Heather’s bed. 

She remembered that she needed a nap too, and decided that was her only course of action at the moment. Heather said they would talk later, so she’ll just have to wait, and there’s no better way to kill time than to nap. She slipped under her comforter and turned to face the wall, trying to stop the myriad questions from making her sick.

Eventually, Astrid fell asleep, and by the time she awoke Hiccup was gone. Luckily, Heather was in the same place she left her. Astrid wanted to start the interrogation immediately, but her stomach had other plans. Heather looked up from her monitor to Astrid just as her stomach grumbled in anger.

“Wanna hit the dining hall?” Heather suggested with a raise of an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’m hungry.” For both food and answers, she thought, as even more questions started to crop up. Questions such as, why Heather wanted to talk in public rather than in private. Maybe to stop Astrid from punching her? She certainly woke up in a fighting mood. Astrid aggressively grabbed a sweatshirt that stated boldly ‘ EAT SLEEP DANCE REPEAT’ which certainly spoke to her state of being at the moment. However, nowhere in that popular saying was the word DRAMA, and it felt like more of it was slipping into her daily routine. She followed her roommate out the door and down to the basement dining hall.

Since it was around dinner time it was pretty packed, but the girls had grabbed trays of food and found a booth along the wall. Heather started talking first, without touching her food. “Sorry about that earlier, I meant to text you.”

“Oh it’s fine, was just planning on napping anyways.” Astrid quickly stated before diving into a chicken sandwich. Heather just rolled her eyes at Astrid’s attempt to act cool and collected.

“It’s not what it looks like.” Heather tried again.

“No, really, it’s cool. I won’t run to the RA and tell on you or anything. It’s fine. You can do whatever you want.” Astrid quickly talked over Heather, mouth full of food.

Heather looked wearily across the table before rolling her eyes. “I knew you’d think I was sleeping with Hiccup.” She leaned back against the booth and crossed her arms in front of her, food forgotten, when Astrid nearly choked on a spoonful of chocolate pudding. “Now just shut up and listen.” Heather gave a cursory glance around the dining hall to make sure they weren’t near anyone she knew before leaning in, balancing elbows on the tops of her thighs. “Hiccup was just taking a nap between classes. He hasn’t been sleeping well lately because he’s practically homeless. I don’t know if his dad won’t let him come home, or if Hiccup choose not to, but after that night of the Fall Fest he’s been staying with his Uncle.”

Astrid tried to take all of this information in, and couldn’t truly believe how completely wrong and petty she had been today. “His Uncle?”

“Yeah, the guy who owns the garage he works at? He’s kinda his Uncle, or might as well be. Anyways, he’s got a small apartment above the garage, and Hiccup’s been staying there, sleeping on his couch or whatever.”

Astrid remembered meeting Hiccup at the coffee shop and how incredibly tired he looked. No wonder Heather was letting him take naps in her bed. And now she felt awful, she couldn’t imagine what Hiccup was going through, but she absolutely wanted to help.

“Sorry. My brain just leaps to the worst possible conclusions…”

“So the worst possibility was that we were sleeping together?” Heather huffed.

“What? No, but, I guess I got a tad jealous and didn’t think properly. Sorry again.”

“Good. And just to set the record straight, we’re not seeing each other. Hiccup’s a friend and I’m just trying to help out however I can. And if that means letting him get a few hours of comfortable sleep, I hope you don’t mind him in our dorm room.”

“No, of course not. Anything I can do to help?” Astrid asked in earnest.

“Know of a room he can rent or something? I’ve been looking but can’t find anything fast and cheap.”

“Not that I can think of, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

“I’m only asking because the campus shuts down for winter break, and I’m going home to Berserker Island between semesters. Between Fishlegs and I, we’re trying keep him somewhat stable.”

“Ok, I’ll start thinking of a more permanent solution, and maybe Hiccup and his dad will make up soon?”

“Here’s hoping.” Heather shrugged and started in on her dinner.

Astrid lived by many mottos, it was a dance thing, but one of her favorite sayings is “If you can't stop thinking about it, don't stop working for it”. Usually, that meant perfecting a certain routine or step. Right now, unfortunately, she couldn’t stop thinking about a lot of things, and with final exams, final papers, final showcases and recitals to do, her mind kept wandering to a certain carboy and his plight.

It didn’t help that he was spending a lot of time in her dorm room. He had taken up a temporary residence there during daylight hours, and a few rare nights spent on the floor between the two beds. And Astrid found herself spending extra time in the dorm as well, if only for a chance to spend some time with their extra and illegal roommate.

When it came time for recitals, she was very grateful that her body remembered the choreography, because her mind had forgotten it in the commotion. She felt like the fleeting culmination of her entire semester’s work had let her down as she walked off the school’s stage. Leaving behind a performance she could never get back, and a resolve to work harder next time, and not let her emotions distract her.

At the end of semester, she hugged Heather goodbye and they wished each other a Happy New Year, since the semester wouldn’t start again until mid-January. Astrid’s parents had come to pick her up, as she’d be going to back to the bedroom she grew up in until it was time to come back to school. But before disappearing from campus, she invited Hiccup to a New Year’s Eve party that was being thrown by the Twins. It was mostly her Berk Dance Arts family that was attending, plus friends of friends from University and she assured Hiccup that it would be a good time.

Hiccup, ever the gentleman - as she was beginning to find out - had picked her up from her parent’s house so that they could drive there together. It was an unofficial date, Astrid decided. She had rifled through her closet for a sparkly cocktail dress to ring in the new year, and maybe impress this boy that had unceremoniously fallen into her life.

Ruff and Tuff were throwing the party at their parent’s house, a decent sized place in Old Berk. Their parents were out of town, on the mainland probably, on Holiday. Ruff said she probably sees her parents twice a year, since the Twins were their youngest kids, the Thorstons were always away on ‘Holiday’, meaning the Twins ran the house while they were gone. 

The next couple of hours were spent grabbing a few drinks, Astrid dancing through the crowd, greeting everyone she recognized and introducing Hiccup along the way. All the while electronic dance music thundered from a sound system tucked away somewhere. At some point, Astrid recognized an old boyband song and half the girls in the house starting hollering their love for the grade school classic. In the middle of the living room girls started up the dance routine, still engraved in their muscles after years of dancing the choreography from middle school dances to slumber parties. Astrid couldn’t resist the call when a girl in a rainbow tutu and matching leg warmers dragged her into the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

Shuffling along with the rest of the party, Astrid waved to Hiccup to come join them. “Never miss a chance to dance!” she yelled, but Hiccup meekly smiled and waved a polite decline. Astrid turned to the music with the group and when she spun back around Hiccup was gone.

He had returned to the kitchen for another drink, and was promptly stopped by Ruffnut who was acting bartender on the other side of a large kitchen island. “So, you’re that dancing carboy Astrid just keeps going on about.” She deftly lifted herself up onto the kitchen island, sliding empty cups and bottles out of her way as she crawled across it like a monster from a horror movie.

Hiccup, terrified at the site of the crazy girl coming for him, promptly ran out the sliding glass doors and into the cold winter night. Outside, he found a group of guys smoking and watching a video on a smartphone. The group turned to look at Hiccup as he stepped out onto the back deck. Hiccup stared back like a deer caught in the headlights, this whole series of events had him dying inside.

“Let’s ask this guy.” A guy with a long face and even longer blonde dreadlocks nodded to Hiccup. A phone screen was shoved into his face and he tried to focus on it. He was watching two people in a dance studio performing a hip-hop routine, after about 30 seconds in the guy shouted over the music from the video, “There! What do you think of that sequence, impressive right?”

After a few seconds of processing Hiccup took a step back from the group, “It would have a bit more musicality if you could get more turns in after the 3rd sequence, If you wanted to get more turns in, you should lead with your left foot, but the whole sequence before that would need to be switch out and reversed, so that you lean in from the opposite direction.” Hiccup said as diplomatically as he allowed himself, he didn’t want to lie and say that it was great, and he was trying not to be snarky and say it was absolute shit just out of sheer self-preservation.

“I knew it! Hey Sis! Your choreography sucks! We need to change the whole thing!” he yelled. Which launched Ruffnut out into the night, ready to fight, followed by a very red in the face Astrid. 

“Who said my choreo is shit?! I’ll smack him.” Ruffnut put her hands up, which were shoved down by Astrid.

“This guy, said something about your musicality, and turns.” Tuffnut shoved a thumb over his shoulder at Hiccup, who blanched in fear.

“How dare you car boy! You don’t know nothing!” Ruff put her firsts up again. 

“Maybe we should all just go back inside and just dance. Besides, it’s almost midnight!” Astrid started, trying to stop a fight.

“Yeah, great idea, maybe this guy can show us all how it’s done?” Tuffnut headed inside with his posse and sister.

Astrid rounded on Hiccup, hands on her hips and slightly wobbly from the amount of alcohol she’s had over the past hour. "Ok, Mr. Know-it-all, dance with me, show me your… musicality." 

Hiccup frowned, and without warning the thudding music stops and the new year’s countdown began with the entire house shouting in unison. ‘7!.... 6!.... 5!’ Hiccup leaned into Astrid. ‘4!.... 3!.....’ He moves past her mouth, her cheek, her ear. She closes her eyes as their cheeks nearly touch. ‘2!…’ 

"I can’t." he whispered in her ear. ‘1!!!’ He was barely audible above the din of the party and the people screaming Happy New Year into the night.

Astrid never thought of herself as a hopeless romantic, but something girly and childish in her was crushed. However, this feeling was quickly consumed by her petty and competitive side. That should have been her midnight kiss, the glorious start to the New Year, with a promise of more kisses to come. So, after the soul crushing weight of disappointment ebbed away, she was left with nothing but anger. All of her fury was directed at Hiccup for robbing her of that feeling, that moment.

It felt like a lifetime to process what had happened, but Hiccup was only just starting to take a step back from her. "Excuse me?" She grabbed his wrist.

Sensing her anger, Hiccup at least had the decency to look afraid of her. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to dance. Nothing against you, or dancing. I didn't mean it like that!" He took note that Astrid clearly took offense to his rejection. "Really, please." He tried to raise his hands in a placating manner, but she was still holding steady onto his wrist. "I would just prefer not to dance." 

And that's when she saw it.

The same soul crushing sadness, that she felt just moments ago, reflected back at her. She could feel it, he was telling the truth, this wasn't anything against her, this was his issue. He just didn't want to dance.

But Gods, she was still angry about being duped out of a midnight kiss. She let go of his wrist, practically throwing it away, a tad to forcefully, and grabbed onto his hoodie at the collar. She pulled him toward herself and, rising up to demi-pointe, she kissed him.

Hiccup didn’t have time to react before she pushed away from him, lips smacking. She looked him right in the eyes and said, "Don't do that again." before running back inside to the party, leaving Hiccup to watch his breath as it hit the cold night air.

Astrid found herself in the kitchen, with a drink being pressed into her hand. She looked up to see Ruff smirking at her. "You need another drink my friend. And maybe a punching bag?" Ruffnut had seen everything through the sliding glass patio doors.

Astrid tried to push down the lump in her throat, and moved the cold drink to her cheek in an attempt to cool down. "No, I'm fine. I have either made a huge mistake or... no, that was most definitely a mistake." She drank from the cup that Ruff handed her and immediately regretted that as well. "Ruff! What is this?" She made an exaggerated gagging motion.

Ruff leaned against the kitchen counter in nonchalance. "It's a little cocktail I like to call 'Punch in the Face' 1 part rum, 3 parts anger." Ruff said as she watched Hiccup enter the kitchen. She then placed her hands on Astrid's shoulders and spun her around.

"Um, Astrid. Can we talk?" Astrid blushed as she watched Hiccup run a hand through his hair adorably; his gaze wandering around the kitchen floor tiles. Ruff moved out from behind Astrid to hand Hiccup a cup of ‘Punch in the Face’ before saying she'll leave the two lovebirds alone. As Ruffnut swaggered out of the kitchen to the thumping base of a party rock anthem, Hiccup looked at the cup in his hand.

"Don't," Astrid started, taking the cup from him and setting both on the counter. "...drink that. I mean." She turned to face Hiccup, who was staring down at the drinks, "It's awful."

"Oh.... Kay..." Hiccup looked around the kitchen and then back to Astrid. "Right. I'm sorry for whatever that was outside. I appreciate the offer, but I can't.... um, what I really wanted to ask you though, is, if it's something, uhh... would you like to go out with me sometime?"

Astrid failed to hide her initial shock, but was quickly able to regain her composure. This is what she had wanted, wasn't it? This was her goal for the past few months. Ever since their first meeting, there was always something in the back of her mind telling her that she had wanted him in more ways than she could count. But their interaction earlier was still a fresh wound, it still stung. “As long as it isn’t dancing.” She added quietly.

Hiccup winced and frowned at her. Astrid was close enough that she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. His eyes were searching hers for an answer. “I’m not going to stop you from dancing, ever, just not with me. Please.”

Astrid started to smile softly, “Ok, I think I can work with that.” She said with a little nod, “Cheer up, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Hiccup laughed and took her hands trying hard not to be so awkward, and pulled her in for a soft kiss. “Thanks.”

The next soft kiss they had shared was in Astrid’s driveway, after Hiccup had driven her home later that morning. She danced quietly up the stairs to her bedroom and flopped down into her bed with a sigh. Astrid found herself mentally going through choreography over and over, with Hiccup as her dance partner, until she fell asleep.


End file.
